Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Bigger climb this Saturday........

This Saturday - October 25th - is Race #5 in the Chico Hill Climb Time Trial Series - the vicious Hors Category climb to the Cohasset Gravel. There has been one slight change in this particular Time Trial for Saturday - the Start Line for this event will be in our usual Cohasset TT spot on Nicalog Road.....NOT Keefer Road. So, the Cohasset Gravel Time Trial course will go from Nicalog Road up to the gravel. The gravel is about 4.5 miles past the Cohasset Store (stay on Cohasset Road, NOT Vilas Road). This climb is approximately 9.1 miles in length.......and climbs approximately 2,900 feet. The Bikely.com map of the Cohasset Gravel Time Trial course is here:

Hi Everyone! So, we are doing a Fall/Winter Hill Climb Time Trial Series this year in Chico, with the climbs and dates below. There was a similar Series done years ago here in Chico - 1981 or 1982 - by Tom Devol and Jeff Smith, who owned Cyclesport bike shop at the time. And, of course, now there is that almost-famous Low Key Hillclimb Series in the Bay Area every fall. In any case, we decided to have our own and revive the old Chico Series.......with a couple of route changes. Below is a list of the tentative events with dates. It should be mentioned that these dates could change depending upon Galland Cross, the Cutty Series and Tyler Cross dates this fall/winter. And, of course......the weather! Rain will not cancel - but snow and ice will.

How does it work??? Below are each of the 10 Hillclimbs in the Series. Each climb has been given a rank based upon feedback from some well-known riders in the area (and climbers in particular - yes, I know - everyone is different, but this is just a low-key have-fun series, so no big whoop). Category 1 climbs are the hardest, with Category 3 being.......let's not say easiest.......let's say........not quite as hard as Category 1! Points will be awarded to the top finishers in each Hill Climb TT - the folks with the most points at the end of the Series, wins the overall title. The Point Breakdown is as follows:

Hors Climb = 40-36-34-32-30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1-1-1Cat. 1 Climb = 30-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1-1-1 (In other words, 1st place in a Cat. 1 TT gets 30 points, 2nd place gets 26 and on down the line - every person who competes in the event gets at least 1 point).Cat. 2 Climb = 24-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1-1-1(The winner of a Cat. 2 climb gets 24 points, 2nd place gets 20 points and on and on.)Cat. 3 Climb = 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1-1-1

And here are the Time Trial courses, the tentative dates, and their listed difficulty category:

10 Climbs, approximately 18,000 feet of climbing in total, held over a 4-month period from September through December. Consistency will be key in winning the Overall Series.

Participant Categories - the following categories will be offered for the Series event(see below) The winner in each category will receive the Chico Hillclimb Champion Trophy, along with Bragging Rights.........as well as any stuff we can get to give away as prizes:

Category "A" MenCategory "B" MenWomen's CategoryClydesdale Men (No no, I'm not gonna weigh you - just show up and tell me and I will give you a yes or no answer)Mens 50+ CategoryWomens 50+ Category

As usual, sandbaggers are strongly discouraged. Also, if there's a lot of folks in one particular category, we may split those up into sub-categories, if needed. In turn, if nobody - or very few folks are in one category, we may eliminate it and add an additional category where the numbers allow it.

This Series is FREE - so come on out and take advantage of some, or all, of these Time Trials this fall and winter! Hope to see you out there - and I will have more details and information as we get closer to the events.

About Me

Chico native who loves bicycling. I first joined Chico Velo Cycling Club back in 1980 at the ripe old age of 12. Begin racing Juniors(although back then they were called Intermediates) in 1981 and continued through 1988(1986-1988 I only raced mountain bikes). Then hung up the cycling cleats to party at Chico State(and get a few degrees too). Then raced again in the early 90s. Then got a desk job and got fat. Started riding seriously again in 1999 to lose weight and get in shape. Type I diabetic too - diagnosed when I was 4.